PLA/MMT-TiO2 Bionanocomposites: Chemical Structure and Surface Wettability

Abstract

Polylactic Acid (PLA) has been used widely in packaging application because of its biodegradability. The aim of this study is to produce PLA nanocomposites by solvent casting incorporating montmorillonite nanoclays (MMT) and titanium dioxide (TiO2) nanoparticles. The effect of different loadings of MMT in PLA and different loadings of TiO2 on chemical structure and surface wettability were studied. The nanocomposites were prepared by solvent casting at different loadings of MMT (0, 2, 4, 6 wt %) and different loadings of TiO2 (1 and 3 wt %) respectively. The chemical structure and surface wettability were determined. The absorption peaks in the range of 3550-3200 cm-1 had increased after incorporating of TiO2 and it indicated that there is the presence of stretching vibration of O-H groups. Moreover, increasing the percentage of TiO2 mass in the nanocomposites decreased the contact angle with water which led to increasing the wettability of the nanocomposites.